Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.

Wall Street Roundup: Welcome intervention. Should Wall Street pay?

Gold: Trading now at $1,419 per ounce, up 1.1% from Thursday. Dow Jones industrial average: Trading now at 11,885.20, up 0.9% from Thursday.

Welcome intervention. As governments around the world collaborate to deal with the yen and Libya, stock markets took heart.

Free to spend. Two years after the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve is set to give a clean bill of health to a number of leading banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo, freeing them to pay dividends and buy back stock.